Geelong's Joel Selwood has been named as Australia's captain for Saturday's International Rules Test against Ireland.

Australia's squad is littered with leaders with seven of the 24-man squad captains of their club sides while a further three have skippered the international team previously.

Australia coach Alastair Clarkson and his assistants Ross Lyon, Chris Scott and former Kerry and Sydney Swans player Tadhg Kennelly settled on Selwood as captain while the leadership group is completed by Luke Hodge, Nick Riewoldt and Jarryd McVeigh.

In a team laden with so many of the best the AFL has to offer, securing the captaincy is quite the honour for Selwood, who believes the selection policy will breath fresh life into the series.

"There was a lot of us that were non-believers at the start that didn't think the series could get to where it is right now," he said.

"I wouldn't say we haven't taken it seriously in the past but I would say it's the best group of players that we've been able to put together for a long time.

"The players have been a little bit disrespectful to the opportunity of representing your country so we're really proud as a group to get together and make sure we can put a great show."

Chad Wingard of Australia in action during the International Rules practice match against the NSW Gaelic Football team (Image: (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images))

His appointment was confirmed at a team ceremony at the Sydney Opera House last night before the Australian team played a locally based selection of Irish players in a warm-up game today. They then flew to Perth ahead of Saturday's game at the Patersons Arena.

Although Australia scored a predictably comfortable 86-7 win over the New South Wales selection, it came at a cost as Fremantle's Nat Fyffe picked up a shoulder injury which has ruled him out of the Test match.

"I dived for a mark and simply landed the wrong way and it didn't feel right," Fyfe explained.

"I've loved the experience over the last few days and meeting players from across the competition, and it's incredibly disappointing to miss out."

Meanwhile, if this weekend's encounter proves to be a success, the AFL will push to have the game played in the US in future.

"If this is successful, and our players and our staff across the league are prepared to commit to it, then we'd like to make it a showcase event," said AFL football operations manager Mark Evans.

"The time frame might be every second year, every third year or every year if there's enough support.

"We think there's an opportunity to take the game to the US, maybe play it in Central Park in New York, on our way towards Ireland. We'll talk to the Irish during their time in Australia."